Protective liners for hard hats have long been known in the art and are disclosed, by way of examples, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,205,508 and 2,339,080. The purpose of such a liner is to provide cold weather protection for a wearer's head since a conventional hard hat is normally spaced from a wearer's head by means of a harness and, therefore, such a hot provides little if any protection from the cold. A long-existing problem has been to combine a liner with a hard hat in such a way that cold weather protection will be readily available when needed but, when not needed, the liner may be easily removed or shifted into a non-functional position. If such a liner extends into the head space defined by the harness, then removal of that liner in warm weather will require readjustment of the headband size of the harness, whereas if the liner extends into the space between the harness and the hard hat, detachment of such a liner may first require removal of the harness from the hat. In either case, considerable time-consuming manipulation is required in order to attach or detach such liners.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,205,508 and 3,594,814 discloses constructions designed to facilitate retraction of a liner when cold weather protection for the face, neck, and ears is not required. While the provision of a liner which may be readily extended and retracted reduces some of the aforementioned problems, it does not eliminate those problems because the presence of a liner, even when fully retracted, may still be objectionable under warm weather conditions. The inconvenience of periodically detaching and reattaching a liner, commonly accompanied by the steps of disconnecting, adjusting, and remounting a harness, still exists with the use of such retractable liners even though such operations may be performed less frequently.
Other patents disclosing the state of the prior art are U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,100,896, 3,271,781, 3,169,252, 3,146,462, and British Pat. No. 15,232.
This invention is concerned with an improved protection headband for use with hard hats, such band being readily attachable and detachable from a hard heat whenever removal and replacement are desired. While such removal would commonly occur when improved conditions no longer require cold weather protection for a wearer's face and ears, the band might also be removed for cleaning or repair, or replacement by a new band. Ease of detachability is also important where, for example, a band has become wet from rain or snow and removal is desired to facilitate drying of the band, possibly while a replacement band is being used.
A further object of this invention is to provide an easily removable and attachable band for hard hats which is readily adaptable for use with hats of different size, style, and configuration. While all conventional hard hats have rigid crown and brim portions which are integrally formed from impact-resistance plastic or, less frequently, from metal, differences do exist in the sizes and shapes of the brims, the contours of the crowns, and the configurations and numbers of stiffening ribs extending across such crowns. The band of this invention is designed to cooperate with all conventional hard hats regardless of such variations.
A still further object is to provide a band which may be readily shifted into different positions of adjustment depending on the extent of cold weather protection desired by a wearer and which, in each of such positions, cooperates with the hat to become anchored or fixed against sliding movement that might result in detachment from the hat or in unintentional movement out of the selected position of adjustment.
One aspect of this invention lies in recognizing that many of the aforementioned problems associated with cold weather liners for hard hats may be overcome by providing a band which fits over rather than within such a hat. The band takes the form of a circumferentially-stretchable tube having open upper and lower ends and formed of double thicknesses of knitted material. The upper portion is dimensioned to be stretched about the outside of a hard hat with the lower portion of the tube, having an elasticized border about its open lower end, extending downwardly (or inwardly) from the brim of the hat. A pair of diametrically-disposed slits are provided in the front and rear portions of the tube, at least the front slit being provided with an elasticized border. In one position of adjustment, front and rear brim portions of the hat project through the diametrically-disposed slits with the lower portion of the tubular band extending across a wearer's forehead and temples, over the ears, and behind the neck. In a second position of adjustment, the front slit is disengaged from the brim of the hat and is expanded beneath the brim to define an enlarged face opening, the portion formerly serving as a forehead band becoming a chin strap. A third position of adjustment is similar to the first except that the elasticized border about the lower opening of the tubular band is urged downwardly to encircle the wearer's head within the opening defined by the brim of the hat. Movement between all of such positions of adjustment may be achieved without removing the protective tubular band from the hat, and without removing the safety hat from the wearer's head.
Other objects, features, and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the specification and drawings.